Today’s independent books feature is of independent Author M.K. Williams. Williams published “Nailbitters” as his debut work. He currently is working on more works, and would love to hear from new readers.

What inspired you to write?
I’ve always enjoyed writing in one form or another. As an only child I often had hours of time to fill by using my imagination, this helped to spark my creativity. My mother always had books in the house and was always reading. She taught me to love reading and to respect books. This also helped me to become a fan of different authors at a young age (such as Stephen King and Harlan Coben). In high school I was able to express myself with poetry and prose. Over time I continued to develop little stories that eventually turned into novels.

How did you choose who you wanted to publish with?
After looking at all of the options, I decided to self-publish. It just didn’t feel right to hand Nailbiters over to someone else after I had put so much effort into the novel. I also knew that I wanted the cost for the reader and local libraries to be low. Because of this, I decided that an eBook would help to accomplish this as the main resource is storage space on a hosted server. I also liked that by self-publishing Nailbiters as an eBook that it would have a very small environmental footprint.What made you want to publish independently?
When I completed my first two novels, I spent a lot of time and effort putting together query letters so that I could get an agent and start the process of becoming traditionally published. I also put a lot of stock in to whether I was accepted by someone in “the industry”. After some time I realized that many wonderful books were written by authors that were independently or self-published. I realized that the only acceptance or approval I needed was from myself. At this point I decided that I could call myself an author as long as I told my character’s stories truthfully.What were some tricks you used to save money in your publishing?
I am a very frugal person and I like to be resourceful. I knew that I wanted Nailbiters to look professional and polished, while still being inexpensive. I didn’t want to charge someone a price that I wouldn’t be willing to pay for the same item. Publishing in an eBook format was very cost effective. I didn’t have to print a higher volume to see economies of scale. The novel is available on demand, at a low cost, and no trees were harmed in the process.What inspired you to write “Nailbiters”?
A convergence of factors inspired me when I wrote Nailbiters. The first vision of the story started out as a very vivid dream. I usually have active dreams, but this one was different. I jotted it down in my journal and kept tinkering with the idea for a while. After I wrote the first iterations of the characters that would become Dora, Don, Rebecca, and Gael, I had another dream. This second dream was much more violent and I knew that it was related to Nailbiters. I kept working and reworking the two stories, and after they didn’t connect, I left them alone. Sometime later I began to realize that Nailbiters was never just about an alien invasion. The rest of the story flowed very easily after that.What was the best part of writing “Nailbiters”
I really enjoyed getting lost in Dora’s world when I worked on Nailbiters. I had a specific playlist of music that would put me in the mindset to write each chapter. It was a nice, albeit terrifying, escape from reality. I also enjoyed the reactions from readers. Hearing from those who read the novel about their favorite chapters and questions about character’s motivations was very rewarding.What do you love most about writing?
I love that I can make my own rules when I write. I really enjoy the freedom to invent and create without any limitations except for how quickly I can get the words down on paper. I find a lot of joy in writing and being able to invent something new.What’s next for you in your writing career?
I will be publishing a collection of short stories this year before I dive into my next novel. I have been polishing this collection of stories over the last few years. I am really excited to release something that is light and funny before heading back into some darker material in my next few novels.